A funny word called Love

Chapter 18

Yuri was done with everybody's shit, specifically Yuuri and Viktor's. I mean, of course Yuri was happy for them. They were perfect for eachother and he was glad that they were finally getting married, but could they just stop. He couldn't be in either of their presences without hearing about the wedding. Neither of them could shut up for a single second about it, and it was starting to get on Yuri's nerve just a little.

He was also a bit surprised that Viktor had asked him to be his best man. He wasn't angry about that. Actually, he actually felt a bit honored that Viktor had chosen him, though he wasn't about to say that outloud. But this meant that even without Yuuri and Viktor around, he had to worry about the wedding constantly, because despite everything else, Yuri truly wanted Viktor and Yuuri's wedding day to be perfect.

The main thing that was troubling Yuri was that he couldn't escape the romance. Couldn't escape the feeling like everybody expected everybody to be married. Despite having reassured Otabek that all forms of love were equally valuable, times like this sure made it feel like they weren't. Rationally, Yuri knew that platonic love was just as valuable, but the world right now seemed to be screaming at him that it wasn't, and that he was just some weirdo who couldn't live up to the world's expectations for him. He wanted to escape the wedding for just a moment, but it was only a week away, so Yuri knew that that wasn't a possibility. Nobody ever told him how much work being a best man would be.

So needless to say, when Yuuri jokingly skated up to Yuri during practice and said, "So when's your wedding going to be?" a few days before the wedding, Yuri broke. He ran away as fast as he could. As much as he had mastered not showing any emotions except for anger, this week had been chipping away at his mental state, and this was the last thing to go before he shattered. He found an empty room, and sat up against the wall, and let his emotions fall out of him in the form of tears.

"Hey, are you alright? I was only joking," Yuuri said once he had found the younger boy.

"I'm fine. Now leave me alone you idiot." Yuri snapped.

"I'm sorry."

"Why?"

"Well, something I said clearly upset you, so I'm sorry. But could you please explain what I said that made you so upset."

Yuri hesitated, but surprised himself by saying, "Fine. I'm upset because I don't want to get married. I'm upset because I'm ace and aro and it always feels like society wants me to date somebody, wants me to get married, wants me to be like you and Viktor when I'm not. Normally I can just avoid society norms and just try and say 'fuck you' to the world whenever it tries to make me feel like I have to date people, but being constantly surrounded by romance and constant talk of the wedding means that I can't just ignore it. It just feels like there's something wrong with me. Like it's bad that I only feel love in a platonic manner." Yuri said, then realized who he was saying this to, "Fuck. I shouldn't of told you that, fucking hell!"

"It's okay Yuri. I'm sorry. But platonic love is just as important and valuable and amazing as any other type of love. Society is idiotic. You don't have to get married like Viktor and I," Yuuri said, his eyes shining when he mentioned his upcoming marriage. "Love is a funny thing. Love means something different to everybody. If love to you is something platonic, that's great. Love is something beautiful and indescribable and it's stupid for other people to try and dictate how you experience love."

"Thanks," Yuri muttered.

"What was that?"

"I said thank you," Yuri said, more clearly this time, and walked back out to finish practice, leaving Yuuri quite shocked. Yuri thanking somebody was a rare occasion.